On January 11th 2022, The Hindu newspaper had an article that said that the Corporation of Chennai would come to citizens’ homes to administer COVID booster vaccines to those over 60 with comorbidities. The next evening, I called the 2nd number listed in that article. The phone was picked up…
As the rain keeps pelting down in Madras from Cyclone Nivar, with bursts of hyper loud thunder and incredible flashes of lightning, looking at my waterlogged street and my semi-inundated yard with the ever looming threat of a power outage, I get a few distinct memories, all associated with water.…
COVID-induced travel restrictions meant that my daughter and I spent 6 months continuously in Pennsylvania with my husband and son – the four of us have never been together for so long a stretch in over 9 years. An additional happy side-effect of this stay has been my son’s attempting…
Note: I normally edit after I write but it seemed appropriate NOT to do so in this case. So, please excuse all errors. Every now and then, I get asked if I am jobless. There are those who camouflage it in the seeming courtesy of “so, what DO you do…
A good friend sent me this yesterday. The timing was appropriate. Later in the day, my son called me, feeling most down. “I have been working on a written summary,” he said. “When I look at what others have done, I realise mine is awful.” I reacted calmly but was…
On Tuesday last week, my daughter and I decided to look at returning to India at the earliest. An intended six-week sojourn had extended to almost six months. It was a really tough decision to split up the family back again at this time of a pandemic – and frankly,…
Recently, a classmate posted the following: “Would you rather deal with someone who tells you exactly what they mean (even if it hurts sometimes) … or someone who…. never confronts you directly? Just curious what people think.” Well, it definitely got me thinking. Developing the appropriate filters in communication is…
As a faculty spouse, I have continuous and regular interaction with 20 and 30 something graduate students – moving from being on first name basis then to being Ma’am-ed and Aunty-ed now (which I embrace happily). Pickled in this age group for 25 years, I can unequivocally say it is…
My paternal uncle, my chithappa, died almost exactly 24 hours ago (not COVID-related) – he was my father’s immediate next brother and the fifth of the eight siblings. The word ‘chithappa’ in tamizh, and equivalent words in many other Indian languages, indicates a younger father – literally speaking. My chithappa…
Procrastination is so much easier now. For time has lost all sense of identity. Every day is like the other – a state of suspended fluidity. To postpone is a very common tendency for one born human, but some do so more than others. My husband is one who NEVER…